312 to 315? Here's the 411

Goose Island's local area code-branded suds to be produced in suburban New York

July 30, 2011|By Josh Noel, Tribune reporter

Goose Island's 312 Urban Wheat Ale. (HANDOUT)

Your 312 Urban Wheat Ale is moving to the 315.

Brewed in Chicago since its launch in 2004, Goose Island's most popular beer will soon be brewed in an Anheuser-Busch plant in Baldwinsville, N.Y., where the area code is three digits north of its name.

John Hall, who founded Goose Island in 1988, and remains chief executive officer after a $38.8 million takeover by AB in March, said an undetermined amount of the beer would be brewed out East at first and full production is likely to migrate there eventually.

Hall said he expects critics to emerge — and they did Friday on Internet message boards — but that he has no regrets about sending the beer's production to the Eastern time zone. Two of Goose Island's other two big sellers, Honker's Ale and India Pale Ale, are already largely brewed at a Redhook brewing facility in Portsmouth, N.H.

"One of the principal reasons we aligned with AB is you need capacity to grow and you need money to build capacity," Hall said.

Honker's, the IPA and 312 have been so popular that the company has struggled to keep up with demand — hence the moves, he said. It's likely that 312 will also expand in some format, after AB filed applications to trademark the area codes of 15 U.S. cities.

The irony, of course, is rich — an "urban" wheat beer born in and named for Chicago will now be brewed in suburban Syracuse. But there could be benefits for all stripes of beer drinkers: more 312 can be made (even if it will need to travel 700 miles to reach Chicago), and the Fulton Street plant where it was taking up capacity will be free to pursue more complex offerings, like Goose Island's Belgian-style and barrel-aged beers.

Hall said he dreams of opening a massive new Goose Island plant in Chicago where all Goose beers would be made, but Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer's Insights, said there's no guarantee such a facility would be built.

"Goose Island has built up quite a following as a local Chicago craft brewer, and I think it behooves AB to maintain that," Steinman said. "But it comes down to whether it makes economic sense."